Colloidal nanoparticles have remained the focus of research mainly due to their strong size- and shape-dependent properties. It has further been realized that the formation of nanoparticle assemblies may conceive new properties unattainable using individual nanoparticles through collective effects such as interparticle coupling and structural ordering. An important feature of such secondary structures is that the properties of nanoparticle ensembles can be dynamically controlled by manipulating the assembly and disassembly behaviors, making them excellent candidates for constructing stimuli-responsive or smart materials. A notable example is colloidal nanoparticles of plasmonic noble metals (e.g. gold and silver), which exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance resulting in significant scattering and absorption in the visible spectrum. The plasmon excitation can be widely tuned by arranging multiple nanoparticles in close proximity, for example, by forming one-dimensional (1D) chain structures, which can take advantage of the interparticle near-field plasmon coupling effect. The dependence of the resonance band position on the interparticle separation can provide many great opportunities for developing novel stimuli responsive colorimetric devices.